The Tale of Surlington Mansion
by Flauta
Summary: A girl moves into a haunted mansion
1. Default Chapter Title

The Tale of Surlington Mansion  
  
1  
  
  
  
We moved into the Surlington mansion two weeks ago. Imagine moving to a new home and hearing all sorts of rumors that it's haunted. It's the last thing I'd wanted and of course, that's what I got. If you asked my mom, she'd say I was really skeptical about stuff like ghosts, but that's only when I see them in movies…. Not when it's actually happening to me. In the past two weeks, all we've all been hearing were strange noises, but what can you expect? I mean it is an old mansion. Dad says he'll have to do a lot of repairs on it. So far, everyone seems to be happy about the move except for my sister Elizabeth and I.   
  
I just began school a week ago, and so far, I've been the talk of the town… Because my family happened to move into a mansion that hasn't been lived in for two hundred years. It's kind of annoying with people always looking at you with pity. Today, after class this girl told me that all the families that lived here had bad luck, and that something so terrible happened with the last family that lived here, no one else dared to move in from then on.   
"So why didn't the town have the dumb thing demolished?" I asked exasperated. Then the girl turned to look at me straight in the eyes with a solemn expression on her face, and said darkly, "We were afraid to disturb the spirits."  
"That's just crazy! That's hogwash!" I cried. "Fine." She said. " Suit yourself. But you'll be sorry you ever moved in." As she walked off, I called after her, "Well, nothing's happened yet!" Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped. "It's just me, Dana." My face turned bright red. Was I actually starting to let myself be taken in by this ghost nonsense? It was just my new friend Andrea. "I was just going to tell you not to listen to Maggie." She said. "Who?" "Maggie. She's always been the outcast. She just wants attention. She's really weird…nobody really understands her anyway. Just ignore her." I sighed. But the truth was that Maggie hadn't been the only one telling me about this stuff…I guess it was just some aura about her that gave me the chills. Shrugging it off, I asked Andrea if she wanted to come to the library with me after school. "Library? Why? I know you don't like to read much anyway." "I just thought it might be interesting for me to find out a little history about my home. Don't you think? I mean, it's quite famous, and pretty old. Just curious." "You don't really believe that ghost garbage, do you? I mean, people here just tell that stuff to scare new neighbors. It's some kind of tradition. Well, anyway, that's just what I think. Ask Maggie, and she'll tell you something completely different!" I chuckled, even though I felt a bit uneasy in the pit of my stomach. In the end, Andrea agreed to go to the library with me.   
  
Clearing my throat, I asked the librarian if she had any books on Surlington Mansion. "Do we?" She laughed a bit too hard, and it made me feel uncomfortable. It ended up there was way too much history on my house. And then, something was bugging me. "…Andrea? Do you know about the last family that lived here?" "Oh," she said. I'd never seen her look so sick before. How could she act so nonchalantly about the mansion five minutes ago, and suddenly be really uneasy about it? "What's wrong?" I said. "I thought you didn't believe this stuff." But before I could say anything else, Andrea said quickly, "I've got to go." Looking bewildered I called after her. "But I thought you were going to help me look for books on…" But she ran as quickly as I had ever seen her go out of the library before. What was it with this town? Why was Andrea suddenly freaking out? She was supposed to be skeptical like me, practical. Now I felt like there was no one practical left to talk to around here. I decided not to ask the librarian about it… I suddenly felt the chills. The same kind I felt around Maggie. I had to go.  
  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

The Tale of Surlington Mansion 2  
  
Tonight, I had a hard time eating dinner. Just the idea of Andrea's reaction stayed with me. "Honey, are you okay? You're not eating anything." "I'm fine, mom, I'm fine." I said, feeling nausea in the pit of my stomache. "I think I'm going to go upstairs now." Climbing the stairs so alone, I felt a bit scared, but I managed to get to my room and slump down on my bed. Thoughts raced through my mind. What exactly did happen to the last family that lived here? The idea haunted me, and it seemed to be the only thing scaring me. I mean, there seemed to be no problems so far with hearing uncanny noises or feeling or seeing anything strange. Shrugging the whole thing off, I sat at my desk and began to do my homework. And that's when it happened. The door of my room started to close. I ran as quickly as I could, away from my room, from the door, down the stairs, gasping for breath, wide eyed. "Jesus, Andrea, what's the matter?" My little sister Elizabeth cried. "Nothing, nothing." It was the biggest lie I'd ever told. How was I going to get through the night? I decided that the sooner I found out about the history of the house I'd feel a little better. Walking slowly up to my room, I sat back down, cautious. Nothing else happened that night.   
  
"Dana, you've got to come to the library with me. I'm serious. Please. Last night, you won't believe what happened." Dana just gaped brainlessly at me, weighed down by her backpack. I couldn't wait for her to answer. "Last night, my door moved. By itself. It was perfectly still last night-you know how humid it was. There was not a gust of wind. And my door moved." "Andrea. Look. I lied to you about not believing in ghosts. I just about think that everyone in our town does. I just didn't want to know about it. It scares me….If only you knew the evil that hides in your house! If I were you, I would want to move out any chance I got. Look, I know you can't , but, you don't want to find out about the dark secrets of this mansion." "Dana, I've got to know! Don't give me that! Please! Look, if you don't want to tell me, the library will. It will tell me everything I need to know. And if you don't want to come to the library, that's fine. But I can't live in this ignorance anymore. I'm sure what you know is just a rumor. I want the truth. I have made it my goal to know what kind of a place I've moved into, and nobody can stop me now, least of all you." Dana looked at me pleadingly. It couldn't possibly be that serious that she didn't want me to know. The foreboding look on my friend's face was worth a thousand words. And yet, I ignored the information. I ignored the warnings. I'm sorry I ever did.  
  
Stopping at home, I grabbed my bike, and headed toward the library. I remembered vividly the section where all the books on Surlington Mansion had been. How could I forget? I mindlessly scanned the subtitles of the books on the shelf. Suddenly, I spotted exactly what I was looking for. There, at the end of the bottom shelf, where I would have never noticed it before, I noticed a neglected old, tattered book bound in leather. The title read, "The Truth about Surlington Mansion". I don't know how I knew it was the right one, except that I felt it in my chest. I felt a cold clammy feeling, an uninviting feeling I had never felt before. How could such an ordinary title get me started? I didn't know anything but to trust the wicked feeling inside of me. Settling down on the floor in an isolated spot of the library, I carefully opened the book…and thumbed through the pages as if I knew the book from front to back. It was as if I knew where I'd end up, and automatically I stopped on the last chapter. My hands---it was as if they were moving on their own without my mind telling them to. It was as if they had a mind of their own. "Chapter thirty," I read softly to myself, "The last family of Surlington Mansion." And I started reading, the clammy feeling getting more intense. I just wanted to close the book, but my hands would not allow me too. There they stayed, gripping the book tightly.   
  
Edward Surlington and his wife Margaret were the last family to ever inhabit the mansion. Their story remained the most mysterious of all. Some say that they out of all the inhabitants suffered the worst of fortune. The newly wed couple moved in at first with brilliant plans for the future. But Margaret tried to bear Edward children several times yet she could not. The once Servants began to turn on their master and mistress, planning to kill them both and escape. One servant girl was finally caught for attempting to poison Margaret's wine. When Edward lost his job, he and Margaret often contemplated of selling the Mansion. Most say it was to earn money for support, others say they wanted to escape from the Mansion as soon as possible. But nobody wished to buy the Mansion. Margaret was so depressed that she went mad. It is nebulous of what really happened, for little evidence was found on the case, but of what was found, a conclusion had arrived that one night, Margaret stabbed her sleeping husband in her madness , and then stabbed herself out of remorse. The blood and knife was found lying under the bed in the master bedroom, along with Margaret's body, but the body of Edward Surlington was never found, and thus never had a proper burial. The only possible and obvious conclusion to where the body of Edward lay would be hidden, somewhere within the mansion itself.  
  
  
  
  



	3. Default Chapter Title

Tale of The Surlington Mansion Part 3,   
  
(the sources of this story give credit to The Haunting)  
  
  
OKAY! Let me say that first of all, I am very sorry about the confusion!!!! Dana should be the MAIN CHARACTER, and ANDREA SHOULD BE THE FRIEND!!!!!!  
  
  
I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't want to go back home after hearing that. I really didn't. But in the end, I did. I don't know how I brought myself to go back, but I just kept telling myself it wasn't true. It wasn't true.   
  
"Dana, what's wrong?" My little sister Elizabeth was two years younger than me, but I always told her everything, because she was so mature for her age, and could handle things that I said. "You have got to come up to my room with me. There's something I think you should know." While mom and dad were watching "It's a wonderful Life," Liz and I quietly climbed up the stairs to our room. "Okay." I said, leaving the door open. "How should I put this? Liz, our house is haunted." "I know," she said, nonchalantly. It was not at all the response I expected. "I heard it at school. But I'm not afraid. Why, are you?" "Yes, Liz. You have no idea what happened here. I do. And if you did, you would be just as scared as I am." "Nobody at school never wants to talk about it when I ask them, Dana. Of course I don't know. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. There's nothing to fear about the deceased. If we don't bother them, they won't bother us." "Liz, they will bother us, because they are restless spirits who experienced a terrible life, and a terrible death, and they want revenge for it, it doesn't matter who they take it out on." "So…" Liz said, "what really did happen , Dana? Enlighten me." Was she mocking me or something? Did she still not believe me? "Okay. Here it goes." When I finished, Liz's expression changed to one of uneasiness. "Now what do you think? Do you think that Edward's spirit is at peace at being murdered by his own wife? Do you think Margaret had fun when she hung herself? Do you think they had innocent, joyous memories here? I don't. And the scary part is, is that as much as I don't want to believe myself, I'm starting to. It's just a rumor, right? That's what I thought, but there are too many books in the library for it to be just a rumor. And there was something about that tattered brown one which I read. I think there's more evil behind this than I used to think. Liz, Edward's body is buried here. It could be buried right under my bedroom floorboards. Margaret hung herself in her bedroom, which is now the room where our parents sleep. I can almost smell the curdled blood and flesh.." "STOP! Just stop! I believe you now, okay?" This was the only thing that Liz could not handle in her life. She took a deep breath, and said, "Mom and Dad already know about this…right?" "Of course they do, Liz. But they don't believe it. It's just a silly rumor to them." "Well, maybe it is.." "Don't start now, Elizabeth Lily Mauren. It's really stupid to pretend you didn't hear what I just said, just now, and you know it." Elizabeth was at a loss for all words, except, "So what do we do now?"   
  
I took a deep breath. "To be honest, Liz, I don't know." If it scared me to say this, I knew it would scare her much more. She always looked up to me to be her protective shield, that I would always rescue her, and I was the strong and smart and older one. It must have scared poor Lizzie like hec. " Well, the other night my door moved by itself. This I did not tell you. It could have been anything, but I'm pretty sure that it was what I think it was. So far, we have seen no other signs that our house is haunted, and I guess we'll just have to wait until we get tangible, visible, and believable proof that we can show to a ghost hunter or something. I know it's painful to wait, but we can't just cry wolf. We have to be brave, and actually see something that will help a ghost hunter to track something down." Lizzie gulped. It was the most difficult ordeal she'd ever perform. "Well, in that case, can I roll out a sleeping bag in your room tonight, Dana?" "Sure."  
  
At 10:00 pm, Liz and I went to bed. It was the earliest I'd ever gone to bed. We stayed up talking, her on the floor, me in my bed. We must have talked for hours, because we were so scared of the silence. Finally, I talked myself to sleep, because I could feel myself drifting off into a dark abyss, through the door to the supernatural world of rapid eye movement and mad dreams. A voice so far away, I could almost not hear it, called incessantly, "Oh, Dana, please don't fall asleep now. We promised we'd stay up all night. Please! I don't want to stay up alone. I'm scared, so scared." But in a minute or two, it was gone.   
  
"Margaret, dear, come here." I smiled, and walked over to my love, letting myself fall into his arms, letting him kiss me. Finally we stopped to take one last glance at the beautiful mansion before walking into our new home. "Oh, Edward! Isn't it wonderful! It's simply a dream!" "Yes, my darling. We will have an excellent life here, I can tell." "How can you?" I said playfully, still smiling. "I know these things. Do not doubt me."  
  
Rapid Eye movement stopped, then began again, but not taking on where it left off. It was an entirely different scene now.   
  
"Edward, I can't take it anymore! No children, no money! We can't sell the house!" "I know a way we can get out of this. There's a place, my Margaret, where we will thrive. It is very, very beautiful." "Well, what are we waiting for, Edward? We shall proceed there right at this very moment!" "In order to do so, we must proceed one at a time." All, of a sudden, I was not Margaret anymore. It was as if I was looking in through a window at Margaret, looked confused, but before she knew what was happening, Edward yanked on a pulley and noose fell down from the ceiling, tightening itself onto Margaret's neck. "EDWARD! Have you gone mad!!!! Stop!!! What are you doing!!! HELP!!! HELP!" She let out a painful, bloodcurdling cry. A mad glint flickered in Edward's eye, and his face twisted into a horrible smile. "Yes, my dear. Soon we both will escape our pain and be released into a world of peace forevermore!" "Aaoorgghhthhh!" Margaret choked and splurted blood, her face turning such a horrible purple blue, that it was almost black. Her face and hands turned as pale as dead fish, and her eyes squeezed shut, as she struggled, forcing screams, but instead choking up blood and foam. "DANA!" she cried. "Dana!" Her body beginning to give up with it's stuggle and let death capture it in its throes. Her hands going limp, her golden locks settling softly around her dead white neck, and all she could do was quietly rasp, "help me, help me."And then there was darkness, with the woman's cries of pain slowly fading away…  
  
"It was Edward, Lizabeth, Edward went mad, hung his wife, and then killed himself!" I tossed and turned screaming, half asleep, not aware of anything anymore. Suddenly, "DANA! Aourrghhh! Huggttth! HELP MEEEE! WAKE UP, DANA!" I was vaguely aware of the high pitched scream when I realized… It was Elizabeth! Rubbing my eyes furiously, I widened them at the sight before me. There was no possible way in hell this could happen. There was my little sister, with a noose tight around her neck, it's origin at the ceiling. And she hung there with the same pained haunted look in her now red eyes as Margaret, Screaming and choking, her gaze searing right through me like fire. And she was spitting out…blood.   
  



	4. Default Chapter Title

I screamed in shock. Thinking quickly, I rushed down to the kitchen and back up with our sharpest knife, and sliced the knot at her neck. Tumbling to the ground into her own puddle of blood, she fainted from lack of oxygen. The strong mark of the rope was indented into her flesh, coloring it a sickeningly yellow and brown. I kept screaming and screaming and I wouldn't stop. I ran and ran away from it all into my parents room to wake them up, but they were already awake. "What the hell is going on?" Dad cried, climbing out of bed, mom at his side. "Mom! Dad!" I sobbed with fright for Lizzie, and mere shock, "you've got to follow me!" If they could sleep through Lizzie's and my screaming, they could sleep through an earthquake, I thought angrily. How could they sleep through that- that, horror? With absolute looks of concern, they followed me into my room. And when they saw Lizzie, and the noose folded in a pile of loops by her side……. Mother let out a cry of shock and almost fainted, but my dad who caught her in his arms just stared at the little frail figure of my sister with fright. When they had composed themselves they ran over to the crumpled body, and checked her for signs of life. "She's still alive, just unconcious," mom and I both said at the same time. "Honey, quick, get the phone!" Mom flashed a look at Dad who rushed out of the room in panic. Mom and I both looked at eachother. And then, slowly, with trembling fingers, Mom reached for the noose on the floor. "Dana, how did…" "Mom, you've got to believe me. Edward did it. Like he hung his wife." "What????!!! How could a man come into this house, it's locked and how do you know who it is, and what happened, and will she be okay, and nooses were only used in the 1800's, how did it get in here, and where is Edward?" Mom through all these questions at me with shock, anger, and fright. "AND WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT? Did you just sit there?!!!!!!!" "Mom," I almost sobbed, shaking with every nerve in my body, feeling a sheet of coldness fall over me. "Mom, I saved her. And I didn't see what happened. I only think that the man who did it was Edward. And Edward's dead." Then I went to explain the tale of Surlington Mansion with detail, and my mother just sat there. At first I thought she wouldn't believe a word I said, but she did, because it was there were no other alternatives.   
  
Mom just sat there, wide eyed, gasping incessantly for breath. "Please, mom. We have to move out. Or Edward and his wife are going to kill someone. That someone will mostly be Elizabeth. I think it's because she looks the most like Margaret, and they want her for their child. Margaret never had any children." "Well, maybe we can talk to a Ghost hunter, or a Supernatural Scientist who studies these things…" Mom, we can't stay another night.  
  
EPILOGUE   
  
So Dad called the paramedics, and all I could do was thank G-d she was okay. After the Incident with Elizabeth, we moved out of the mansion, far away , back to L.A, even though we had only stayed in the mansion for a few months. Inspired by the terrible incident, the townspeople, full of anger and determination, finally overcame their fears, and had the mansion demolished. But Andrea writes me every so often telling me that everyone in that small town is conversing about moving out, abandoning it. They speak of the dreadful sobbing and agonized screams that they hear at night coming from the demolition site. "It's the site of the demons" she says. And having lived there, I know that it is.  



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